Otto Apocalypse, head of the Apocalypse family, Bishop of Schicksal, and also… an immortal who has lived for five hundred years.
He has lived until now because he wants to resurrect his fiancée, his beloved Kallen Kaslana.
To tell Otto's story, one must know this, otherwise, Otto's actions would be completely incomprehensible.
And once everything is built upon this foundation, this man's actions become understandable, even admirable to a certain extent.
Unfortunately, one's position determines one's perspective, and different standpoints lead to different views on the same matter.
Their hero, my enemy.
In the fight against Honkai, Otto has made indelible contributions.
He created countless tragedies, but also achieved many results based on these tragedies.
If Takatsuki were to evaluate him, it would be: guilty in his time, meritorious for all ages.
"So, the Bishop did all these things to resurrect his fiancée, Kallen?"
Durandal listened to Takatsuki's narration, remained silent for a while, and then summarized.
"Exactly. He will fight Honkai, but to get what he wants, he will also actively protect Honkai, which is why he did those things during the Second Eruption."
Durandal slowly closed her eyes, processing the information she had just learned. For her, Otto could be considered her mother's killer, but from Takatsuki's words, she also knew what Cecilia ultimately did.
Cecilia, who had almost drained all her blood, didn't have much time left, and how should she face Otto?
One must know that she was not someone good at hiding her emotions.
"Takatsuki… can you defeat Honkai?"
Durandal looked at Takatsuki. To be honest, she had never believed Takatsuki's claim that he wanted to defeat Honkai.
But everything she had just experienced made her have to believe, or rather, she was willing to believe.
"Not yet. Bianka, are you worried about how to face Otto?"
Durandal nodded, and Takatsuki continued: "Otto, aside from being a bit unscrupulous, doesn't have many other major issues. At least for now, he is still fighting Honkai. There are still two years until his initial plan, so there's no need to worry for now."
The Original World is only in its 14th year, while Otto's plan only began in the 17th year. It was in that year that the Herrschers began to erupt en masse, with almost all of them appearing within a single year.
"I'm telling you this only because I don't want you to be confused by knowing too little; I don't need you to do anything. For now, focus on improving your strength. The world might change due to my influence, so improving your strength is the simplest thing to do—adapt to all changes by remaining unchanged."
Originally, Durandal was not in Takatsuki's plan. If not for Kiana and this accident, he wouldn't even have intended to contact Durandal, but since things had come to this, the corresponding plans also needed to change.
"Here, take this." Takatsuki handed over a card.
"What is this?"
Durandal examined the card in her hand. Its material was very special, but she didn't dare to try too hard and instead looked at Takatsuki.
Takatsuki naturally didn't keep her in suspense: "This is called the Multiverse Card. You can visualize and materialize people with whom you have a karmic relationship on it, and then confirm to summon them. The summoning time varies depending on the difference in your strength and the opponent's strength. If you encounter any trouble, just summon me. I'm not boasting, but currently, among the people you know, I should be the strongest."
Durandal looked at the self-praising Takatsuki and didn't feel anything wrong, because it was indeed the truth.
Just as Durandal was about to put away the Multiverse Card, Takatsuki stopped her.
"Wait a moment, it's easy to lose it if you carry it like that. I have something else."
With that, Heaven's Stairway appeared from behind Takatsuki, and Durandal's eyes immediately shifted to it.
This was the first time she had seen the true form of Heaven's Stairway.
It looked like a metallic, mechanical body with multiple displays on it, like a technological product.
On the displays, there were also multiple strange humanoid images.
And Durandal's reaction was naturally noticed by Takatsuki.
"Bianka, can you see it?"
Durandal nodded, and then a silver-haired figure also appeared behind her.
"You actually awakened a Stand too!?" Takatsuki looked at the Stand behind Durandal in surprise: "Is it because of Kiana?"
"This… is called a Stand? When she first appeared, she had consciousness and could talk to me, but now it seems…"
Durandal's Stand moved beside her according to her will: "She has no consciousness now, like another body of mine."
"Yes, that's a Stand. The existence of Stands is quite mysterious, and the specific reasons are still unclear. They are divided into many types depending on the situation. What are your Stand's abilities? How far can it move away from you?"
Although keeping one's Stand abilities secret is fundamental, Durandal didn't know, and Takatsuki felt he had a clear conscience.
Durandal did not hide anything and directly told Takatsuki about her situation in that accelerated consciousness space earlier.
"Borrowing other people's power, and directly using the Stand's arm? The Stand's range is three meters, so it seems to be a close-range power-type Stand."
Based on Durandal's situation, Takatsuki made a judgment: "Bianka, I'll briefly introduce you to the concept of Stands and the points you need to pay attention to with your Stand."
"A Stand is an ability activated through an unknown virus via bloodline. Your Stand is very likely due to Kiana. We still haven't figured out the principle of that virus; it spreads even with just a blood relationship. And a Stand is actually a manifestation of your spiritual power, meaning a Stand is essentially your doppelganger."
Takatsuki demonstrated his Stand and said: "Your Stand is a close-range power-type Stand. It possesses strength and speed beyond ordinary people. It cannot be seen by people without Stands, but I've found that some special beings, those with extremely strong spiritual power, can see Stands. Also, if your Stand is injured, your main body will also be injured, so be careful about that. As for what you said earlier about it having consciousness, some other Stand users have encountered similar situations, and I can't explain it well, but unless it achieves another breakthrough, it should no longer exhibit intelligence."
After briefly instructing her on some precautions, Takatsuki had Heaven's Stairway extract a golden light curtain from his body.
"This is one of my Heaven's Stairway's abilities, Love Train. This was a reward for completing a previous task, Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon, which is a storage space."
With that, Durandal saw Heaven's Stairway forcibly tear off a large piece from that light curtain and slap it onto her.
She did not resist, allowing Heaven's Stairway to slap the light curtain into her body.
"Alright, although it's only a part, you now have a portable storage space. The Gate of Babylon itself is very large, but after being torn apart, the infinite becomes finite. I'm not sure how big your piece is, but it should be enough."
Takatsuki was not stingy, directly tearing off a tenth and giving it to her.
Durandal felt the new ability.
Looking at that golden space, it was more than enough…
Durandal felt that she could easily fit several warships from Schicksal inside.
"This… is too precious."
Durandal, who had always adhered to the philosophy of taking what she needed, also felt that this item was too precious. A spatial item of this size was something even Schicksal didn't possess.
Although there were folding technologies, not everything could be folded so easily.
"Just take it. Also, Durandal and Pandora, they're yours too."
Takatsuki retrieved the two weapons that had been left in the Great Void and put them into Durandal's golden gate.
"Takatsuki, why are you so good to me?"
Besides her parents, there was no one else who was so good to her. Otto? Otto was someone she respected, but she originally knew that she and Otto simply had a teacher-student relationship. The reason Otto provided her with unlimited resources was to raise her into an ace.
Now that she had recovered her memories and knew Otto's purpose, she naturally understood that this was, in fact, a form of utilization.
But she didn't care. If he used her, then so be it; she only needed to become stronger.
She even had no psychological burden about it.
But why was Takatsuki, who was unconditionally good to her besides her parents, like this?
"Ah? You're my wife, the mother of my child. Do I need a reason to be good to you?"